Hustatus Mirikatas (Remunerated Spearmen)
Considered very treacherous, but particularly brave and warlike, these men are some of the most proficient fighters in the Italian Peninsula and as a result, despite their shortcomings, are highly sought after as mercenaries. Description These men have honed their skills through years of small scale warfare against Italic hillmen and through mercenary service abroad. As a result they could safely be described as professionals, well experienced in the classical tactics of the Argive Phalanx. Indeed when well formed these spearmen present an almost unbreakable formation and should their opponents somehow manage to disrupt the phalanx, these vicious Oscan warriors will not disdain switching to close quarters and grind away their enemies one at a time. Historically the natives of Campania were some of the most warlike and fearsome people in the Italian Peninsula. Well established politically in leagues of city-states, the chief three alliances of the Oscan people were those of the Aurunci, the Ausoni and the Sidicini. When Hellenic colonists first came to what was to become Megale Hellas, they encountered a people, whose origins stretched all the way back to the early Bronze Age, controlling a territory that extended as far Kalabria and even conducted colonial enterprises of their own in Sikelia. Indeed in those days Ausonia was synonymous for the whole southern peninsula. However a centralised polity never took form among the Oscan communities, who often fought against one another, but were equally capable of forming larger alliances against invaders. In such a manner they were able to contest the Romani for two centuries, over the domain in the Italian Peninsula. Nevertheless most of the Osci were eventually deprived either of their territory or of their sovereignty by the late 4th century BC. This was something that the Oscan people resented and most of the men simply embraced the mercenary life, although they would quickly show that their main interest was not to serve a paymaster, but find a new home and take power there. They did not have to look far away for employment: Megale Hellas kept on being a theater of war for generations, with the Tyrannoi of Syrakousai looking to establish a personal empire in the region, while the Hellenic poleis attempted to resist the Syrakousan attacks and at the same time gain Hegemonic powers over the other Hellenic settlers. While all of this was taking place, the powerful local Italic tribes, chief among them Loukanoi, Brettioi and Iapyges, were looking to expel the foreigners. For the Oscan mercenaries Syrakousan service was particularly lucrative, but most of all it catered to their desire to find a new home, because the Tyrannoi were always looking for personal loyalties and were particularly keen on granting citizenship to their own mercenaries. Soon the Oscan soldiers found themselves living in Syrakousai with equal rights or holding important centers like Kroton, acting as Syrakousan garrison troops. However as was the norm with tyrannical regimes, with the death of the Tyrannos the whole system collapsed and armed conflicts broke out in Syrakousai, reaching a stale mate and as a result the citizens agreed to allow the Oscan mercenaries to sell their property and leave unharmed, provided they promised to return to the Italian Peninsula. In 289 BC however Messena, holding enmity towards Syrakousai, like most of the Sikelian poleis, gladly invited the Oscan soldiers, who in turn had had enough of internal Hellenic politics and seized the polis, expelled or massacrated the citizens and took possession of the land and their wives, redistributing it all among themselves. This was not a novelty, as Oscan mercenaries had done the same a century earlier at Entella, but the conquerors of Messana now took up the name of Mamertini, the sons of Mamers, the Oscan deity of war, and now pursued their own interests and looked to establish a strong polity. Later during the conflict against Pyrrhos of Apeiros, the people of Rhegion allied themselves with the Romani and requested military protection, which was sent in the form of a legion from Campania. However soon enough these soldiers decided to take control of Rhegion instead, much like the Mamertini, who at the time were Punic allies against Pyrrhos, attempting to prevent him from crossing to Sikelia. Nevertheless the Aiakid Basileus was successful, but his enterprise ultimately achieved nothing and by 276 BC left the island, allowing the Mamertini to actually increase significantly their power. Indeed they allied themselves with Roma, and at the same time with their kinsmen in Rhegion. Indeed it would be the Mamertini, ever looking to play one side against another and looking for any alliance to gain the upper hand, that would cause the Romani and Qarthadastim to engage in bloody conflict for decades. Although it is unknown what happened to the Oscan masters of Messana, while those in Rhegion were summarily executed, the name of the Mamertini and their polity in Messana survived, because two centuries later the people were still referred as Mamertini, much like the local products, especially the Mamertinian wine, which was the favourite of Gaivs Ivlivs Caesar. Category:Units Category:Units available only in EB2 Category:Romani Category:Epeiros Category:Karthadastim